promise land

Deuteronomy 6:1 NKJV

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

NOW these are the Commandments, the Statutes, and the Judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it

(the prosperity of Israel, and the Blessings of the Lord upon the “land,” and in every capacity, had to do with Israel understanding and obeying the Law; it is the same with us presently as it regards obeying the Word of God)

332.32 You shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

33 You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

(All of this is of extreme significance, in that these people were raised up for the purpose of serving, one might say, as the womb of the Messiah, and to whom the Word of God would be given; consequently, all of this pertains to our Salvation. When we read these Old Testament accounts, we should understand that each happening brings us a few steps closer to the Redemption we now possess in Christ. Understanding it in that fashion makes it much more important—actually, the single most important thing in the world.)

CHAPTER 6

(1451 B.C.)

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

NOW these are the Commandments, the Statutes, and the Judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it (the prosperity of Israel, and the Blessings of the Lord upon the “land,” and in every capacity, had to do with Israel understanding and obeying the Law; it is the same with us presently as it regards obeying the Word of God):

2 That you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His Statutes and His Commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged

(the “fear” mentioned here is not a slavish fear, but rather a fear of the Lord in respect to disobeying Him, and of that to which such disobedience would lead).

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey (to do the best they could to obey the Law; the Lord promised that it would go well with them, and that they would be greatly blessed;

the word “blessing” actually refers to “increase”; so Israel’s increase depended upon her obedience to the Lord).

4 Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD (there are two

Hebrew words for the English word “one”; the first means a single or only one; the second, a compound unity; it is the second that is used in this Verse; so this Verse implies the Trinity):

5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Jesus quoted this Verse in Matthew 22:37).

DUTIES OF PARENTS

6 And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart

(Alexander says, “Where true love to God exists in the heart, it will manifest itself in a regard to His Will, and in the diligent keeping of His Commandments”; the Believer can keep the Commandments of the Lord only by understanding that Christ is the Source, while the Cross is the Means; when our Faith is anchored exclusively in Christ and His Cross, the Holy Spirit will keep the Commandments through us):

7 And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up

(the Word of God must be the criteria for all things; the command given then has not changed, it is the same presently).

8 And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes

(the Israelites took this literally, and made phylacteries, putting them on their foreheads and their wrists; it was a small boxlike affair, containing a thin piece of leather on which were inscribed one or more Passages of Scripture; unfortunately, the Jews made a ritual of such, doing it more for show than anything else [Mat. 23:5]).

Jimmy Swaggart, The Expositor’s Study Bible (Baton Rouge, LA: Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, 2005), 332–333.